LarryBudMelman said:
I am not one of the people who are questioning these prosecutions based on what they cost. People like Stephens and you evidently are saying these people shouldn't be prosecuted based on some kind of cost/benefit analysis.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying that Bonds specifically shouldn't have been prosecuted because he's wealthy enough to be able to defend himself and that will make the tax payers' costs go up. I was questioning the cost-benefit of this whole line of investigation and the way the government has chosen to prosecute it.
I see PED usage as an issue for sporting bodies, not federal governments. I also object to asking people personal questions and then prosecuting them for not answering those questions. No one should ever be under any obligation to give the government evidence against himself, regardless of any immunity deal.
I also object to charging people with perjury about things that have not first been proven in court. If the government wants to charge an athlete with lying about their own drug usage, then first convict them of the drug usage! If they can't do that, how can we justify perjury charges?
I also object to black and white dogmatic thinking. The suggestion that every lie is worthy of prosecution because it's the principal that matters just sounds like a shortcut for lazy people. The rest of us are willing and able to analyze each situation individually and differentiate between a lie that keeps a killer on the streets and one that keeps the public from knowing who gave who a blow job in the oval office or what substances an athlete puts into his own body.
"But if Bonds goes free, people will feel free to lie to grand juries!" Maybe. Then show the grand jury some actual evidence. Solve crimes using police work. Physical evidence. Science. Video and audio surveillance. Something other than asking people to rat themselves and their friends out. If the government can't do this, then to me it just shows that there isn't much of a crime here to worry about. Real crimes have real evidence. Use that.